Jessica head

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Cricket has long been celebrated as a gentleman’s game, but in the age of social media, the line between passionate fandom and online mob fury has increasingly blurred. Too often, it is the families of cricketers who pay the heaviest price.

Over the past decade, several incidents involving communal abuse, rape threats, relentless trolling, and mental-health trauma have exposed the darker side of modern cricket fandom.

From India to Australia, prominent cricketers and their loved ones have endured severe online harassment after defeats, controversial moments, or heated rivalries. In response, players and their families have repeatedly urged fans to remember that behind every athlete is a real person with a family, and that rivalries should remain confined to the field.